Tablet demand triples ahead of holidays, two out of three buyers want Apple’s iPad

Demand for media tablets is picking up ahead of the holidays according to a recent survey, with Amazon and Apple in particular looking like they will emerge as leaders this holiday season. According to data from market research firm ChangeWave, demand for tablets this holiday season is three times higher than it was last year during the same period. Holiday shoppers are most interested in Apple’s iPad 2 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire according to the results of a ChangeWave survey, preliminary results of which were released earlier this month. Read on for more

When asked if they intended to purchase a tablet in the next 90 days, 14% of the 3,043 North American consumers surveyed by ChangeWave said yes. Only 6% said they intended to purchase a tablet in a similar survey conducted in August, and just 4% intended to purchase a tablet in November last year. ChangeWave’s new survey also found that 65% of respondents intended to purchase Apple’s iPad 2, while 22% were eying the Kindle Fire. Only 4% of respondents intended to purchase a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and no other tablet vendor garnered more than 1% of interest among those polled.

“The launch of the Amazon Kindle Fire represents a shot across the bow at Apple, who until now has almost completely dominated the tablet space,” ChangeWave said. “But the most immediate impact of the Amazon device is on the rest of the competition, where the survey shows it wreaking a devastating blow to a range of second tier tablet manufacturers, including Motorola, RIM, Dell, HTC, H-P and Toshiba.”

ChangeWave doesn’t see the Kindle Fire as much of a threat to Apple, however. Instead, Amazon’s tablet may end up helping Apple in the long run. “The ChangeWave survey shows the Amazon Kindle Fire is going to leapfrog the competition and become the number two product in the tablet market, as long as it can provide a quality user experience,” ChangeWave said. “But the Amazon surge may also contain a silver lining for Apple, by damaging the tablet market hopes of the remaining competitors in the field.”